JUST GOOD FRIENDS? Romanian politician Corina Cretu joins former Secretary of State Colin Powell at a Washington event in a photo from her own blog. Photo: CorinaCretu.wordpress.com

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday was forced to deny he had an affair with a Romanian politician after a hacker broke into his online account and posted compromising e-mails, according to a report.

“Over time, the e-mails became of a very personal nature, but did not result in an affair,” Powell wrote in a statement posted on The Smoking Gun. “There was no affair then and there is not one now.”

Powell made the statement after the notorious hacker Guccifer posted the e-mails on the former general’s Facebook page.

In the e-mails Corina Cretu, 45, calls Powell the “love of her life” and attaches photos of herself in a bathing suit.

“I have known Ms Corina Cretu for approximately 10 years,” Powell said. “We met when I was Secretary of State and she was assistant to the president of Romania.”

Powell, 76, who has been married to his wife, Alma, for 50 years, said he and Cretu attended the same diplomatic soirees and remained in contact after he left the State Department in 2005.

He claims they have seen each other just a few times over the past eight years and he has given her advice on her career.

He added that the online flirting ended before she got married last year.

“Those type of e-mails ended a few years ago.” the Gulf War hero said.

In his statement to the Web site Powell congratulated Cretu on her accomplishments.

“I am pleased she has a successful career,” he said. “I am pleased that she is recently and happily married.”

Guccifer, who infamously hacked into the e-mail account of the Bush family, accessed Powell’s e-mails a few months ago.

He uploaded the correspondence to the New York-born Powell’s Facebook page over the weekend. Powell’s staff became aware of the breach and deleted the post.

Guccifer even posted e-mails that Powell sent to Cretu earlier this week, warning the Romanian blonde that someone was peeking at their messages.

The hacker “may have lots of your e-mails, maybe not,” Powell wrote to Cretu. “So best to delete all between us.”

Powell told The Smoking Gun: “In light of what was happening, it seems obvious to ask Ms. Cretu to delete e-mails.”

In response to the bathing-suit photos, Powell said that the two had exchanged many pictures, including those taken at a family wedding and business events, but never anything “improper.”

Cretu, a member of a her nation’s Socialist Democrat Party, was spokesperson for the Romanian president. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2007.